BETHLEHEM, PA – Senior outfielder Toni Niño (Adelanto, CA/Silverado) tied the program record for runs in a single season (41), but the Rider University softball team was swept at Lehigh Wednesday afternoon. With the losses, the Broncs fall to 16-30, while the Mountain Hawks are now 20-23-1.

In Game 1, the Broncs fell victim to a stellar pitching performance from Parker Boyd, who spun a complete-game, one-hit shutout. Five Broncs drew walks and Elyse Cuttic (Easton, PA/Bethlehem, PA) singled in the fourth, but the Broncs couldn't push across a run. Meanwhile, the Mountain Hawks scored single tallies in the fifth and the sixth to give Lehigh the win.

The Broncs immediately struck for two runs in the top of the first of Game 2. Niño singled and scored on Melanie Wilkinson's (Richboro, PA/Council Rock South) double. Following a sacrifice bunt from Kiera Swank (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy), Wilkinson scored on Cuttic's sacrifice fly.

However, the Mountain Hawks got consecutive doubles to cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the second and scored two more unearned runs in the third following a leadoff two-base error. Lehigh would score once more in the fourth, three more in the fifth and a pair of runs in the sixth to extend the lead to 9-2.
 
NOTES
- Cuttic took the Game 1 loss in the circle, allowing two earned runs on nine hits without walking a batter in 5.2 innings pitched. She struck out one.   
-  Emily Oltman (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley) started Game 2 in the circle and took the loss. Just one of the three runs scored against her was earned on five hits and a walk. She struck out one in three innings pitched.
- Debra Jones (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) pitched 2.1 innings of relief on the day, while Megan Master (Ventnor City, NJ/Atlantic City) also pitched an inning in Game 2.
- With four games left in the conference schedule, the Broncs virtually sit in a five-way tie for the sixth and final MAAC Championship berth with Manhattan (8-10), Niagara (7-9), Quinnipiac (7-9) and Canisius (7-9). Marist (8-8) is also just a game ahead of the group.  
- Rider returns to action Saturday, when it plays host to Siena for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for noon.  

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Niño matched Deanna Dovak's 17-year old Rider single-season record of 41 runs scored, set in 2001.  
- Niño, Wilkinson and Payton Romines (Colorado Springs, CO/Air Academy) had two hits apiece in Game 2.
- Wilkinson scored the Broncs other run and also drove one in. Cuttic had Rider's second RBI.
- Brianna Parisio (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) also added a base hit in Game 2, while Cuttic had a single in Game 1.
- Romines reached safely in all three of her plate appearances in Game 2 with a pair of hits and a walk. She also drew a walk in Game 1.
- Rider's 16 wins are their most since 2012, when the Broncs won 20 games. Rider's seven league wins are also the most since the 2012 also won seven in 16 games.
- Through 46 games, Rider has scored 223 runs. In a full 50-game slate in 2017, the Broncs scored only 82 runs.  
- Rider's RBI leader had 11 last season. 12 Broncs currently have at least 11 RBI's.